UB Group's IT arm wins US contract

PUNE: UBICS Inc — the Pittsburgh based IT services division of the $2 billion UB Group has won a Knowledge Process Management (KPM) project from a large healthcare solutions company in US worth $1.5 million for the current year.

UBICS is starting a dedicated center for healthcare solutions company in Pune and is currently doing high-end work in the areas of healthcare purchasing.

“UBICS has won this deal against stiff competition. The deal which is worth $1.5 million for the first year of operations will be scaled up with talks of several other processes of the same company being handled out of UBICS India development center in progress,” said Sunil Patil, president- global solutions, UBICS.

UBICS Pune has relocated to a 12000 sq ft technology center and the UBICS Bangalore occupies the UB group headquarters. Currently UBICS consulting services are offered through the Bangalore office. The product sales and support will be added in the future.

UBICS Delhi will focus on e-governance projects.

KPIT Cummins has been a customer for the UBICS product Ventive —a recruitment and resource automation product. In addition, State Bank of India has selected SeeITFirst for employee communication and training across its 9200 centers in India.

The total headcount in India is presently above 200 with more than 125 in Pune. "We have added 100 jobs in the first quarter versus our initial target of 250 for the year. The target is to touch 400 by the year-end," said Patil.

He said the company's revenue has grown consistently since March 2005 with majority of the revenue increase coming from the Pune operations. The newly started UBICS center in Pune contributes more than $3 million annualized.

Patil said the company was already working for Kingfisher Airlines — the group company on the IT support side. We have worked with airlines in the US in the past, however, this engagement has been won purely on merit and not because we are part of the UB group.

As part of the strategy, the company expects a revenue growth of 150 per cent over the next four years. Currently, the US market accounts for the company's majority earnings.

There are plans for inorganic growth. However, Patil said they were yet to identify potential candidates.

UBICS will also market its IT products Ventive and SeeITFirst in India and is currently in the process of setting up a channel for marketing puposes. New offices will be opened in Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad and the company expects to launch the desktop version of its product Ventive soon.